Beautiful Life
by MariskasAngel84
Summary: Sequel to Crossing the Line. Olivia gets a new partner at Manhattan SVU while Elliot transfers to Queens and is partnered with Det. Mike Sandoval. An insight into how they are dealing with these new partners, the cases they investigate, and family life. E
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the characters. They belong to NBC and Wolf Productions. Kaitlyn, Faith, Jacqueline, and Capt. Michael Taylor are my own characters (re: later chapters).

**Author's Note: **This is the sequel to Crossing the Line. As in the last fic, I have Elliot's kids about 3 years younger than the age they are supposed to be (i.e. Maureen is 18 and is starting college). Thanks to April for beta-aing!

**Beautiful Life**

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

**SVU Squad Room – May 23rd – 1:00pm – 3 Months Later**

Elliot sat at his desk and started on some paperwork. The detectives had caught a serial rapist and Casey had brought him to trial. He had been found guilty on all three counts of rape in the first degree and sentence to life. Elliot was relieved of the sentence and hoped that he would think of what he had done to his victims while he was at Rikers.

Cragen came out of his office and found Elliot sitting at his desk. He had been trying to find a new partner for him when he transferred to Queens SVU and wanted to let Elliot know of the good news that of finding him a partner.

"Elliot, I need to see you in my office."

Elliot nodded and followed Cragen to his office and sat down in his chair, wondering what his captain was about to tell him.

Cragen sat down at his desk and looked at Elliot, "Well, I think that I may have found you a new partner."

Elliot raised his eyebrows, "Who is it?"

"Do you remember a Mike Sandoval that is at the same Narcotics station where Fin transferred from?"

Elliot nodded, "Yeah, the one who helped Fin on that old case a while back."

"I talked to his captain there. Surprisingly, Sandoval has wanted to get out of Narc and into the Queens SVU," explained Cragen. "I also told him that I had a detective who wanted to put in a transfer there as well so I was going to see what you thought of having Sandoval as a partner and working with him."

Elliot leaned back in the chair and thought about it for a moment. Sure, Mike Sandoval was young, especially from what Fin had said, but he thought that partnering up with him at Queens would be good.

"That will be great," he answered.

"When is Olivia planning to come back?" asked Cragen.

"I'm not sure. She's been trying to find a nanny for Kaitlyn, but she hasn't found anyone yet," replied Elliot. "As soon as she does, she will be back. School will be out soon so she may let Maureen stay at home with the baby."

"This will be the deal," explained Cragen. "After she comes back from maternity leave, you will go on to Queens and work with Sandoval and I'm working on getting her a new partner to replace you. Until then, you will still be here working with Munch and Fin."

"OK. Thanks Cap." Elliot walked out of Cragen's office and started back to his paperwork. He knew everything was going to change once Olivia came back and after going to Queens, but it would all be fine. As long as he had Olivia and the kids to go home to at night and was able to keep his job, life was good.

**Stabler Residence – 2:30pm**

Olivia sat on the couch in the living room folding laundry. She never did think that she would have so many loads and was amazed at how much she, Elliot, and the kids could go through so much, especially the baby.

She folded the towels and clothes, going to each room to put it in its designated spot. As she went upstairs, Olivia stopped by the nursery to check on Kaitlyn to see if she was still napping. Surprisingly when she went in there and peeked into the crib, her daughter was awake.

"Hey sweetness," said Olivia, softly. "What is Mommy's little girl doing up already?"

Kaitlyn let out a loud sound and even though she was only three months old, she was already verbal and had found her voice. She also had won her mother's heart.

Olivia lifted her out of the crib and the baby buried her face in her mother's shoulder and started to cry.

"Hey, hey, what is it, little miss," murmured Olivia, pressing a kiss on her forehead and rubbing her back gently. "Huh? What is it?"

Knowing that it was feeding time, Olivia sat down in the rocking chair and grabbed the Boppie pillow with her free hand. She laid the baby on that and pulled up her shirt. Kaitlyn began kicking her feet in the air, but she started to settle down as she latched on and began to eat.

Olivia looked down at her daughter and studied every perfect feature from her chubby little cheeks, her cute little button nose, and her soft dark hair. She actually couldn't believe this was her baby—she was so gorgeous and was amazed at how beautiful her eyes were when Kaitlyn looked up at her.

About half an hour later, Kaitlyn was finished eating and started slapping at Olivia's arm playfully, trying to get her mother's attention.

"Are we holding off on our marathon today, girlfriend?" Olivia asked, referring to Kaitlyn's usual feeding marathons that normally lasted at least 45 minutes to an hour.

Olivia draped a burp rag over her shoulder and hoisted Kaitlyn over, patting her back gently. Suddenly, the baby let out a big burp and Olivia wiped her spit-up outside her mouth with the burp rag.

**5:45pm**

"Hey I'm home!" called Elliot from the back door.

"Hi Dad!" exclaimed Lizzie, running up to give her father a hug and kiss.

Maureen came in the kitchen holding her baby sister, "Someone wants to see her daddy."

"Hey pumpkin," Elliot said to the baby. He lightly pinched Kaitlyn on the chin and she smiled at him, holding out her arms.

Elliot took her out of his eldest daughter's arms, pressing a kiss to Kaitlyn's forehead, and turning to Elizabeth, "Where's Liv?"

"In the nursery with Kathleen cleaning up from changing Kaitlyn's diaper," she answered.

"It was a stinky, poopy diaper," whispered Dickie.

"Dickie, that's rude and very gross," scolded Maureen. Dickie just shrugged his shoulders.

Meanwhile, Olivia and Kathleen came downstairs to greet Elliot. Olivia, the other hand, pulled Elliot against her, giving him a hug and a deep kiss.

"Ewww," exclaimed Dickie, covering his eyes.

"Shut up Dickie," replied the girls.

After dinner, everyone watched TV while the twins played with the baby. Lizzie asked to get the camera so she could take a picture of Kaitlyn playing under the baby gym. She was cooing as she batted at the soft toy ladybug and butterfly when Lizzie snapped the picture.

"Kaitlyn," said Maureen softly. "I see you."

The baby smiled at her sisters as they played with her. Eventually, she started giggling when Lizzie and Dickie were making funny faces. Olivia and Elliot sat there on the couch watching the older kids playing the baby and seeing how happy Kaitlyn was with them.

Later that night, Elliot and Olivia were in their bedroom getting dressed for bed when Olivia came over to the bed and collapsed on it. Elliot knew she was worn out so he scooted up behind her to massage her shoulders.

"You're feeling a little tense here," said Elliot, rubbing Olivia's shoulders. "Are you storing little volleyballs in there?"

Olivia chuckled, "I've been up since 5:00 this morning with Kaitlyn. That's tense."

Elliot continued massaging when they began to discuss about when Olivia would be coming back to work after he mentioned that Mike Sandoval would be partnered with him when he transferred to Queens.

"You can tell Cap that I'll be back the first week of June," answered Olivia. "Maureen will have already graduated and she's already told me that she and Kathleen would love to keep Kaitlyn during the day until we find someone to keep her."

"That will be good."

They both got under the sheets with Olivia lying on her back as Elliot reached over to turn off the lamp on the nightstand. He wrapped his arm around Olivia, who took his hand and put it on her lower belly. She linked her fingers into his and sighed. In two more weeks, she would be back at work in action.

TBC


	2. Making Introductions

**Thanks to Kate for beta-aing:-)**

**Chapter 2: Making Introductions**

**SVU Squad Room – 2 Weeks Later – Monday, June 5th -- 8:00am**

Olivia was at her desk rearranging a few pictures. She had brought her new digital camera that was loaded with pictures of Kaitlyn so she could show Cragen, Munch, and Fin how much she had grown.

"It's good to see you back, Liv," called out Munch, reaching over to hug her.

"Thank you, John," replied Olivia. Fin came over and greeted Olivia with a hug as well.

"So, how is 'Little Liv' doing?" asked Fin.

"She's doing fine," answered Olivia, chuckling at Fin's pet name for the baby. "She's very loud and likes to get your attention. Then, when she wakes up at night and I go in the room to check on her, she always wants to play and I'm like 'not right now but maybe tomorrow.' She definitely keeps this mommy busy and is a sweetheart."

They laughed about that and the guys began to discuss their latest case, Elliot's transfer to the Queens SVU, and who Olivia's new partner would be. Meanwhile, Cragen walked into the squad room as Olivia was showing Fin and Munch the pictures of Kaitlyn.

"Welcome back Olivia," said Cragen.

Olivia grinned, "Thanks Cap. It's great to be back." She was relieved to be back on duty at work, but she missed being at home with her baby and it felt weird that Elliot wasn't here. She would get used to it, though. At least she would get to go home and see him every night.

"Your new partner will be here in a little while," announced Cragen. "Her name is Faith McDowell and she's transferring from the Brooklyn SVU. Her boss said she was there for two years after being promoted to Detective."

"Excuse me, is there a Captain Donald Cragen here?" asked a voice.

Everyone turned around and saw a young woman in her early 30s standing in the doorway. She was about the same height as Olivia and had shoulder-length blonde hair.

"I'm Captain Cragen," Cragen answered, motioning the young woman into the squad room. He then turned to Olivia, "Detective Benson, I need to see you in my office."

Olivia nodded and followed Cragen to his office with the other woman trailing behind him. She assumed that this was her new partner. Cragen closed the door after the two women had walked in and stood in front of his desk.

"Detective Benson," said Cragen in a business tone. "I would like you to meet your new partner, Faith McDowell."

Olivia gave Faith a friendly smile and extended her hand, "Hi, it's nice to meet you. I'm Olivia Benson."

Faith smiled and shook her hand, "It's great to meet you too."

"Why don't you guys get acquainted with each other and with Munch and Fin?" suggested Cragen.

Olivia and Faith nodded and went into the squad room. Faith was introduced to Munch and Fin, who both were glad to meet the new detective on the squad. Olivia went around the room and showed Faith the rooms upstairs, the meeting room, and the interrogation rooms where they brought suspects in for questioning_. 'This is all going to work out great.'_

**Queens SVU – 33rd Precinct – 10:30am**

Captain Michael Taylor walked into his office and sat down at his desk. He was a middle-aged man in his late-40s who wore a crew cut and had the voice of a drill sergeant, but he wasn't as strict.

He eyed the two detectives sitting in front of his desk and began to speak, "Stabler, I heard that you and Mike Sandoval have already met each other in the past."

Elliot cleared his throat, "Yes, sir, we have. He helped one of the detectives at the Manhattan SVU on one of his old cases back when he was in Narcotics."

"I learned a little about the ropes of this unit from being there a few days," said Sandoval.

Taylor nodded, leaning back in his chair, "Good for you, son. I talked to Captain Cragen and he thought that you guys would make a good team. Elliot, you have a lot of experience working in sex crimes and Sandoval can learn from you."

"We got a case that just came in. There have been three reports of attempted rapes in the Jamaica and Astoria areas," Taylor continued, handing Elliot a piece of paper and a case file. "You two go and interview the victims."

"We're on it, Captain," said Sandoval as he and Elliot walked out of the office.

Elliot and Mike walked out to the side of the building towards the car when Mike tossed the keys over to Elliot.

"You can drive today," said Sandoval.

"Thanks."

Elliot and Mike got in the car and drove off. He smiled and thought that they were going to make a great team together.

TBC


	3. First Case

**Chapter 3: First Case**

**105th St—Jamaica, Queens—11:30am**

Elliot and Mike walked up the stairs to the second floor towards the apartment of Patricia Brown, one of victims who had come forward in the latest case.

Mike looked around in the narrow hallways, acknowledging a few people who were passing through, "This looks like one of the buildings that I lived in after my parents divorced with my mom and sister when I was a kid."

Elliot smirked, "I had an old buddy who lived in this building when we were in middle school. It hasn't changed very much."

They reached the door of Apt. 2B. "Patricia Brown," called out Sandoval, "this is the police."

A young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties cracked the door open, "Yes, I'm Patricia. Can I help you?"

"I'm Det. Sandoval and this is my partner, Det. Stabler," said Mike, flashing his badge. "We're from the Queens SVU 33rd Precinct."

"We had a report on an attempted rape here last night and we needed to come and talk to you on what happened," said Elliot. "May we come in?"

Patricia nodded and shut the door to unlock the deadbolt to let the detectives inside. Once Elliot and Mike came in, she motioned for them to have a seat on the couch while she took a seat in a chair across from them.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Elliot asked the woman as he opened up his notepad and took a pen out of his shirt pocket.

"It was around 11:30 and there was a knock on the door," explained Patricia. "I looked in the peephole just like I always do before I answer and there was a guy standing out there that looked like a maintenance man. There's been a water leak in my kitchen for a week so I thought the manager had sent someone to come check it out. Anyway, I answered it and he told me that he was an electrician and had been sent to the building to check out the outlets in all of the apartments."

"I turned around to get something and all of a sudden, he came at me and wrapped his hands around my neck and started to strangle me," she continued. "Then, he pushed me to the floor and forced himself on me. I managed to get a can of pepper spray that I always keep on the coffee table and sprayed it right in his eyes. I guess it scared him because he started freaking out and left my apartment."

"Can you describe the guy for us?" asked Mike.

Patricia told him that he was Caucasian, about 6'2" and weighed around 185-200 pounds and wore a red baseball cap with a company emblem on it, but she couldn't see the company name. Elliot wrote down the description on his notepad and Sandoval handed Patricia his business card.

"Thank you for your help ma'am. We'll be in touch."

The rest of the day was spent on tracking down the other two victims who lived in separate apartment buildings about four blocks where Patricia lived. Angela Maldonado and Julie Foster told Elliot and Mike the same exact report and description of the man that Patricia had given to them. They also found his name in the computer system: it was Brian Daniels. He had been charged on battery and burglary of a building and had a history of posing as an electrician and police officer, but most of the offenses occurred in Staten Island and Brooklyn.

Around 5:30, Elliot and Mike were back at the precinct looking at some leads on the case after giving their information to Capt. Taylor that the three women had been interviewed and they may have caught a suspect.

"So, do you want to call it a day?" asked Mike.

Elliot sat back in his chair, chewing on a pen and looking up at the clock, "Yeah, I guess I better get home to Olivia and the kids." He grabbed his jacket from the chair and held it under his arm while getting out his keys in the desk drawer.

Mike gathered his things together and followed Elliot outside to the parking lot, "How's the baby?"

"Kaitlyn is fine. She, Olivia, and my older kids are the reasons why I love coming home at night. The baby is excited about seeing me and she loves to snuggle when I'm holding her."

"She's a true Daddy's girl," said Mike, chuckling. "Everyone said that I was always a momma's boy and still thinks that I am today. Speaking of her, she's cooking dinner tonight so I'm going over to my house to see her and my sister. They are the most important people that I have in my life. I don't know what I'd do without Mami and Elena. Well, enough with the emotional stuff for now. I'll see you manana, partner."

"See you then. Good work today," said Elliot, giving Mike a pat on the back.

"Same here to you."

Elliot got in his car and drove off, traveling the long drive back home to Manhattan.

TBC


	4. Home

**Chapter 4: Home**

**Stabler Residence—1 Week Later—June 15th 5:30pm**

Olivia went upstairs to the nursery and lay Kaitlyn down on the changing table. As soon as she was on the table, she grabbed for her rattle doll and when Olivia got closer to her, Kaitlyn playfully threw it at her, making Olivia giggle.

"I think someone has got a wet diaper," Olivia told her daughter.

Kaitlyn began to babble as if she agreed with what her mother had said. Olivia unsnapped her onesie and reached under the table for a clean diaper while keeping a firm hold on the baby so she wouldn't roll over. She got the baby cleaned up in no time and snapped back on her clothes. During these four months of motherhood, Olivia had really learned a lot in parenting--something that she never had learned from her motherwhen she was growing up. One thing that she had learned over these few months was how to change a diaper fast.

Meanwhile, Olivia picked her up and took her back down to living room where she sat on the couch with the baby, who wanted to play and started cooing.

"Does Mommy have a silly girl?" Olivia asked Kaitlyn, who gave her cute smile. "I think she does."

About that time, Elliot came in through the back door and heard Olivia talking softly to the baby. He went into the living room where Olivia had Kaitlyn in her lap. Elliot stood there quietly for a minute and watched the mother-daughter interaction—he watched his baby girl smiling at her mother and cooing. This priceless moment made him smile.

"Ah boo," cooed Olivia. "Mommy loves you. Yes she does."

"Hey, I'm home," called Elliot.

Olivia went towards Elliot with Kaitlyn settled on her hip and gave him a quick kiss, "Hi sweetheart. How was work today?"

"It was great," answered Elliot. "Sandoval and I make a great team according to our boss. We caught the guy in Queens today on the attempted rape case."

Olivia raised her eyebrows, "Well, it sounds like you guys work really well together."

Elliot nodded, "So, how was your day?"

"Good," said Olivia, peering down at Kaitlyn, who was playing with her necklace. "Faith and I collared a man who had been accused of exposing himself in front of his daughter's two friends. Casey is arraigning him on indecency charges tomorrow."

Elliot looked around the house and noticed that it was unusually quiet, "Where are the rest of the gang at?"

"Maureen and Kathleen are over at their friends' house and the twins are at the park with one of Lizzie's friend and her mom," replied Olivia. She looked at the clock. "They should be here any minute now."

An hour later, everyone sat at the table eating dinner. Maureen put Kaitlyn in her high chair and Olivia got out a couple jars of baby food. She opened up the jar of peas and carrots and handed it to Maureen.

"You like that, huh?" Maureen asked the baby, who opened up her mouth like a baby bird getting food from its mother.

After Olivia finished eating her dinner, she opened up the jar of applesauce, one of Kaitlyn's favorite. She smiled at Kaitlyn, who was imitating her mother's "mmm, yummy" noise and babbling at every bite.

Olivia sat in the recliner in the living room watching TV. She had left the chore of cleaning the table and loading up the dishwasher to the twins while Elliot stretched out on the couch with Kaitlyn in his arms.

"Here baby, do you want your Binky?" Olivia handed Elliot a pacifier and he nudged into the baby's mouth.

Once Kaitlyn got her pacifier, she wiggled around in her father's lap and rested her head on top of his chest. Elliot pressed a kiss on top of her head and thought that she would fall asleep if she stayed like this. Elizabeth walked into the living room after cleaning up the kitchen and noticed her father asleep on the couch while the baby looked at her.

"Olivia," she whispered, gesturing to Elliot on the couch. "Look at this."

Olivia got up from the recliner and saw the two of them. It was a sweet moment so she had to get out the camera to take a picture. Elliot would probably pass out if he saw a picture of him asleep, but Olivia wanted to savor the moment.

"It's going to be so cute," said Lizzie, after seeing the picture.

"Okay Miss Priss, I think it's time for you to go to bed," Olivia carefully lifted Kaitlyn from Elliot's arms as he stirred around and took her upstairs to the nursery. She glanced at the clock: it was a little after eight—a little late to give Kaitlyn a bath but she figured that she would do it in the morning.

"Good night little angel," said Kathleen, kissing her baby sister's hand. Maureen and Elizabeth also gave her a kiss too.

Olivia started her usual night routine with the baby. She fed and changed her diaper and put on her nightgown. She turned on her music box in the crib and placed Kaitlyn in there with her blanket and rattle doll.

"Good night baby." whispered Olivia, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I love you."

Elliot came in and wrapped his arms around Olivia. She turned around and took his hands into hers. "She's so beautiful. Just like her mother."

Olivia nodded and smiled, "Yes she is."

They both stood there in the room for a few more minutes. It was definitely a precious moment as they watched their daughter sleeping peacefully.

TBC


	5. A Day of Work

**Chapter 5: A Day of Work**

**SVU Squad Room – Thursday 8:45am**

"What time is the Andrews arraignment?" Cragen asked, peering at his two female detectives.

"It's in another hour," stated Olivia, looking at her watch.

"We'll get some paperwork done before we leave, Captain," said Faith.

"John and Fin will finish the paperwork for you so you two can leave and beat the mid-morning traffic," said Cragen.

Faith nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Okay, that will be fine." She and Olivia gathered their things and approached John and Fin at their desks.

"Cap is offering you guys some paperwork," said Faith, leaning forward on Munch's desk.

"Where are you guys going?" asked Fin, looking up from his computer.

"The Andrews arraignment," replied Olivia, grabbing her jacket and keys.

"Oh yeah, that is today," quipped Munch.

"See you guys later," said Faith. She and Olivia walked out of the squad room.

Munch turned to Fin, "The new girl is so cute. Maybe she's friendly or she likes to flirt."

Fin glared at his partner, "I don't think Faith would see you as her type, my friend. She may already be dating someone and she is probably just being friendly since she's the new cop in the unit."

"She's just cute." Munch shrugged his shoulders and started on the paperwork that Olivia and Faith had left.

**-En route to Manhattan Courthouse-**

"So, are you planning to go to the Fourth of July annual picnic?" Olivia asked.

Faith looked up from polishing her lip gloss. "I'm thinking about coming. What about you guys?"

"Yeah, we're coming. Elliot wants to come, of course, so he can see some of his friends from neighboring precincts. His kids will be there so you'll get to meet them and Kaitlyn."

Faith nodded, "I can't wait to meet the whole family."

"Do you have any family here?" asked Olivia.

"My dad lives in Connecticut and my mom and sister live in Brooklyn. Mom keeps my eight-month-old daughter, Jacqueline, during the day. After I found out that I was pregnant with her, my husband was killed in a motorcycle accident and since then, she, my mom, and sister have been my light of hope to live. Jacqueline is one of the reasons why I wake up every morning."

Olivia really liked Faith. She was a great person and they had things in common. Most of the time, they talked about life in general and how their babies had changed their lives. Meanwhile, Olivia pulled into the parking lot and quickly found a spot. She put the car into park and took the keys out of the ignition. Both of the women got out and walked towards the courthouse.

"I'm bringing Jacqueline with me to the picnic," said Faith. "Maybe she and Kaitlyn will get acquainted with each other."

Olivia laughed, "Kaitlyn loves the big kids and the babies. I can't wait to see their reaction."

They walked into the courtroom where Casey met them at the front. Faith hadn't met Casey yet, so Olivia introduced them.

"This is our A.D.A., Casey Novak," introduced Olivia. "Casey, this is Faith McDowell."

"Nice to meet you," said Faith, shaking hands with Casey.

"Likewise."

The arraignment was about to begin so Casey went and took her place up front while Olivia and Faith took a seat in the middle row. Judge Lena Petrovsky came in the chamber and started the process. Ricky Andrews, the suspect, made eye contact with Petrovsky as she discussed his charges while his attorney Trevor Langan argued that his client wasn't responsible for his actions.

"Your Honor, my client is a good father who volunteers at his daughter's school. He has also coached the softball team that she and her friends were on last year," he argued. "He couldn't have exposed himself to his daughter's friends.

"Save it, Mr. Langan," Petrovsky turned to Casey, "Ms. Novak."

"Mr. Andrews does have a good, clean record; however, while his 10-year-old daughter's two friends were over at his house for a sleepover, he exposed himself to the girls."

"Your Honor," began Langan, but Casey continued to talk about Ricky Andrews.

After hearing both sides, Petrovsky made her decision and asked the defense to stand.

"Alright, Mr. Andrews, we're setting bail at $50,000. You are scheduled for a trial date next month. The date and time will be announced. Everyone is dismissed." Judge Petrovsky banged her gavel and people started making their way out of the courtroom.

**SVU Squad Room – 1:30pm**

After lunch, Olivia and Faith came back from the D.A.'s office. They had decided to visit with Casey after the arraignment and have lunch with her. Casey really liked Faith and thought that she made a great partner for Olivia. They reached their desks and Olivia checked her messages.

"Sandoval called while I was gone?" she asked Munch and Fin.

"Yeah, it was something about his mother, Rosa," replied Munch.

Olivia nodded, "Oh yeah, his mother keeps kids at her house on the Upper West side. I've got to call her." Elliot had talked to Sandoval about finding someone to keep Kaitlyn when Mike had mentioned his mother. He talked to Olivia about meeting Mrs. Sandoval.

Olivia picked up the phone and dialed the number to the Queens SVU. "Yes, this is Benson from Manhattan SVU. I need to speak to Det. Mike Sandoval."

While she was on the phone, Cragen came over and asked Faith about the Andrews arraignment.

"It went well," she said. "Petrovsky set his bail at $50,000 and a court date will be scheduled next month."

"I told you she's a good judge," said Munch.

"He will probably be out on bail by tomorrow," piped Fin.

"Well, this is what we're going to do," began Cragen. "Faith, you and Liv go get the girls and interview them. John and Fin, talk to some of the neighbors and find out if Ricky Andrews may have more victims."

Munch and Fin grabbed their things and walked out while Faith motioned for Olivia, who was still on the phone, that they had a job.

Olivia hung up the phone and stood up from her chair and turned to Faith, "What's going on?"

"Cap wants us to get the daughter's two friends out of school and interview them."

The rest of the day consisted of the investigation on the case and interviewing the girls. In the end, it had all turned out that their mothers had coerced the girls into telling the detectives that Ricky Andrews exposed himself to them. The story wasn't true after all. Ricky was a free man and didn't do any harm to the two girls.

The detectives all stood in Cragen's office thinking about why these women would do this to their girls. Maybe they didn't like Ricky Andrews. They would never know. They were all too pissed off to even think about itbecause it was a waste of their time and a case. 'What a long day,' the four detectives thought. 'A very long day.'

TBC


	6. Annual Picnic

**Chapter 6: Annual Picnic**

**Queens SVU Squad Room – 2 Weeks Later—Friday, July 1st 3:30pm**

Elliot and Mike were busy doing paperwork for their case on the attempted rape suspect who preyed on young women in the Queens area. The perp ended up getting off and received 6 months probation instead of being found guilty. It wasn't fair, but Elliot and Mike had to deal with it and all of the other suspects they would come across.

"So, are you coming to the picnic on Sunday?" asked Elliot, changing the subject so that they could focus on something else besides their work.

Mike looked up from his paperwork, "Yeah, I'm bringing my mom and my sister. They have been talking about it all week. What about you?"

Elliot grinned, "The whole gang will be coming. Oh, by the way, Olivia said she called you the other day about your mom keeping the baby. We talked about Kaitlyn staying with your mom during the day and we both would love to have her baby-sit."

"That's great. My mom can't wait to see the baby. She's always loved babies so I'm sure she will fall in love with her."

"I'm looking forward to meeting her and your sister."

**SVU Squad Room – 5:15pm**

Olivia and Faith stood up from their desks and went to their lockers to grab their stuff and head home. It had been a long day for both of them and ever since Liv had came back to work after having Kaitlyn, she wanted to get things done if she could so she could go home early to her. Faith could relate to Olivia, being a mom as well.

"You guys coming to the picnic at the river?" Olivia asked Munch and Fin.

"I'll be there and I plan to play the part of Uncle Munch and entertainer."

"I'm coming too," added Fin.

Olivia and Faith laughed at Munch's comment, "See you guys then." They left and walked out of the squad room.

**Hudson River – Sunday, July 3rd – 5:30pm**

The festivities at the annual Fourth of July picnic were gearing up into full swing as Elliot, Olivia, and the gang arrived. They unloaded blankets, lawn chairs, a table, a diaper bag, and the stroller out of the Kia Sorento. Olivia lifted Kaitlyn out of her car seat. She had her dressed in a light blue creeper outfit with a matching shirt and shorts with daisies on the front. As they made their way through the crowd, a band was playing nearby. Kids were playing Frisbee, volleyball, and softball, and other cops, paramedics, and firefighters were eating hamburgers, hot dogs, sipping on drinks, and chatting with each other. Elliot and Olivia were glad to see their fellow detectives having a good time outside of work.

"Dad, can I go play Frisbee over there?" asked Dickie, pointing to a nearby field.

Elliot looked up from setting up the lawn chairs and turned to his son and nodded, "Yeah, but stay close where I can see you, okay."

"OK, Dad."

"I'm going to go play volleyball with Mikayla," said Lizzie, referring to one of her friends, whose father was a homicide detective in one of the neighboring precincts.

Elliot nodded his approval and Elizabeth ran straight towards the volleyball net. He watched until she found Mikayla and they started hitting the ball. Maureen and Kathleen stayed behind to help Olivia fold out the blanket on the ground. Both of the girls were wearing flag T-shirts and denim shorts while Olivia wore a light pink tank top and khaki shorts and Elliot wore his trademark upside down baseball cap with a blue shirt and shorts. They all sat down in the lawn chairs with Olivia standing Kaitlyn up in her lap. Kaitlyn squealed happily as she felt the sun and the breeze blow on her face, making them all smile and laugh. Olivia moved the stroller in front of her and put the baby in there with a few toys. She pulled down the cover to keep the sun out as Kaitlyn cooed and kicked her little bare feet excitedly in the air.

About an hour later, Sandoval came over with his mother and sister. He greeted Elliot, Olivia, Maureen, and Kathleen and introduced the two most important women in his life to them.

"Oh, she is so beautiful," said Sandoval's mom, Rosa, referring to Kaitlyn.

"Thank you," replied Olivia.

"Do you mind if I hold her?" asked Mike's sister, Elena.

Olivia hadn't let anyone she barely knew hold her daughter, but Elena would be helping Rosa keep her soon so she thought that it would be okay to let her get acquainted with the baby and handed her to Elena.

"Hi sweetie," said Elena, softly to the baby. "You're so cute." Kaitlyn smiled and made little noises with her hand over her mouth.

Olivia smiled at the interaction as Elliot came over to let her know that he was getting some burgers. After he left, Kaitlyn began to get fussy so Olivia told her that she may be tired or hungry and took her daughter back. She took a bottle out of the diaper bag and gave it to her.

Meanwhile, Munch, Fin, a few other detectives and their families came over to visit for a little while and see the baby. Then, Faith finally arrived with little Jacqueline in tow.

"Hey guys," called out Faith.

"Hi Faith," said Olivia. She introduced her to Elliot and his kids and Kaitlyn and peered at the smiling baby in her partner's arms. "This must be Jacqueline," she said to the baby, tugging at her leg lightly.

"It's nice to meet all of you," said Faith. She turned towards Jacqueline, "Yes, this is my little angel child."

"I have another hamburger if you want it," Elliot smiled and handed it to Faith. "I knew that we would probably have some more visitors."

"Great. Thank you." She took the burger and parked Jacqueline's stroller next to Kaitlyn's and sat down on the lawn chair after Olivia and Elliot both insisted that she stay around with them.

As the adults and kids ate their burgers, they watched as Kaitlyn and Jacqueline played on the blanket and became acquainted with each other by cooing and babbling as their way of communication. Kaitlyn tried to crawl over to the other baby, but she rolled over on her back. She wailed a little before Elizabeth turned her over back on her belly so she could see all of them. Olivia and Faith agreed that they should have a play date for the babies and maybe with being around another baby, Kaitlyn could start crawling early.

It was around 9:30 when the fireworks began. Dickie and Elizabeth sat down on the blanket while everyone else was in their lawn chairs watching the fireworks light up the sky. Olivia and Elliot looked at each other and smiled. They had enjoyed the whole day of fun at the river.

"This is a perfect ending to a perfect day," murmured Elliot.

Olivia nodded, resting her head on his shoulder and sighed as she watched the fireworks. "This day was definitely one of the best."

TBC


	7. Meeting Ms Sandoval

**Chapter 7: Meeting Ms. Sandoval**

**Queens SVU – Monday, August 1st – 8:30 a.m.**

Elliot sat at his desk, chewing on his pen and leaning back in his chair. His eyes scanned across his desk at his collection of pictures, a way to bring a tiny piece of his family to work with him. He smiled when he saw a family picture that was taken at the 4th of July picnic resting alongside pictures of Kaitlyn. One featured her as a newborn after coming home from the hospital and a recent one showed her sitting in her swing flashing that infamous smile Elliot adored.

"I brought you a cup of coffee," said Mike, placing a cup on Elliot's desk and walking over to his chair.

"Thanks man." Elliot took a sip from his mug. "Is this the Starbucks coffee from the store?"

"I think so," replied Mike. "There was bag in the cabinet at the coffee station. Capt. Taylor was talking about how much he loved it."

Elliot grinned. "I hope we keep it."

The doors in the squad room swung open and surprisingly, Munch and Fin came through and greeted Elliot and Mike at their desks.

"Hey!" called out Elliot. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're trying to find some old records on our latest victim," replied Munch. She was found this morning raped and beaten to death. We think that the perp may have had some past offenses here in Queens."

Capt. Taylor saw the two men visiting with his detectives from his office. He assumed they must be Munch and Fin so he walked out of his office to greet them, "You guys must be from Stabler's old unit at the 1-6 in Manhattan."

Fin nodded, "I'm Fin Tutuola and this is my partner, John Munch." Both he and Munch shook hands with Taylor.

"It's good to meet you." He pointed towards the file room. "You can find most of the information on your guy in there. Knock yourselves out."

"Thank you, sir," Munch walked over to the room and started looking through the files.

Meanwhile, Elliot and Sandoval went back to paperwork on their latest case while Munch and Fin rummaged through the file room. They later found what they needed, said their good-byes to Elliot and Mike, and walked out.

**Rosa Sandoval's Apartment—Upper West Side—Saturday afternoon 2:30 p.m.**

Elliot and Olivia arrived at Sandoval's mother's apartment building with Kaitlyn in tow. Today was the day that they were to meet with Rosa, become acquainted with her and make a decision about Rosa watching her. They came out of the elevator and approached her apartment door. Olivia knocked on the second-floor apartment and Rosa answered it.

"Hello! It's good to see you. Come on in," she said, happily. She opened up the door wider to let them in, especially since Elliot was carrying Kaitlyn in her carrier. She was a short, older lady in her late 50s with short, dark hair and had a thick Spanish accent.

They sat down on the couch after Rosa told them to make themselves at home. Elliot lifted Kaitlyn out of the carrier so Rosa could see her. The baby looked adorable in a blue top underneath a denim jumper dress with a little white ribbon tied to her hair.

"It's nice to see you guys again," said Rosa. "Miguel has told me so much about you, Elliot."

"It's great to see you too, Ms. Sandoval."

"Oh, please call me Rosa." She waved at the baby and made a funny face. "Hello, little miss Kaitlyn. You're so pretty. Yes you are." Kaitlyn smiled shyly and looked at Rosa in awe.

"Would you like to hold her?" Olivia offered, looking at Rosa and then towards Elliot.

Rosa was delighted. "I would love to."

Elliot handed his daughter over to Rosa, who began talking to Kaitlyn in a soft voice. Olivia sat on the edge of the couch next to the chair where Rosa was sitting. She smiled at the interaction between them.

"She can be shy around other people sometimes and it can take a little while for her to warm up. At home, she is usually very loud so she can get some attention."

As Rosa held the baby and became acquainted with her, she discussed with Elliot and Olivia their work schedules and when she would start keeping Kaitlyn.

"Well, my oldest daughter Maureen will be moving into her dorm over at Columbia in a couple of weeks," Elliot mentioned. "My youngest three will start school the day after Labor Day."

"Maybe around the end of this month?" Olivia said to Elliot.

Elliot looked at Olivia and agreed. "That would be fine." He turned back to Rosa, "Will that be all right for you?"

"It sounds perfect," said Rosa. She glanced back at Kaitlyn, who was starting to warm up as she smiled and played with the buttons on Rosa's blouse. "I love this angel already. She is a doll."

"Thank you," said Olivia. "She's a true sweetie, but she can be a handful sometimes."

It was around 4:00 and getting past nap time so Olivia and Elliot decided they should get back home. They said their good-byes to Rosa and promised to keep in touch before she started keeping the baby for them.

As they walked outside to the car, Elliot and Olivia realized that they had made the right decision in letting Rosa keep their daughter. After all, Ms. Sandoval seemed to be a very trusting person and wouldn't do anything to harm her.

TBC


	8. Morning Routine

**Chapter 8: Morning Routine**

**Stabler Residence – Monday, August 29th – 5:00am**

Olivia walked across the hallway from the bedroom towards the nursery after hearing Kaitlyn on the baby monitor. She yawned and rubbed her face so she could wake up. Elliot had already left for work at 4 due to a case, so it was left to Olivia to get Kaitlyn ready. Today was the first day that Rosa Sandoval would be keeping her and Olivia planned to bring her to the station house for Ms. Sandoval to pick her up there.

She walked into the room and peered down at Kaitlyn, who was fascinated by the fish aquarium in the crib. The baby then rolled over and pointed her bottom up at Olivia, making her giggle.

"Come here, little peanut," Olivia patted her diaper covered bottom and lifted her out of the crib. She walked towards the bathroom and lay Kaitlyn down on the blanket while she turned on the water to fill the tub. She got the baby undressed from her shirt and diaper and began to bathe and wash her.

A little while later, after getting the baby cleaned up, it was feeding time. Olivia went back to the nursery. Nursing was becoming one of Olivia's favorite routines with the baby since she had Kaitlyn close and could bond with her. After all, she would be weaning her in two more months so Olivia savored these moments. After Kaitlyn was fed and burped Olivia got her dressed in a pink Polo dress with a matching headband and a pair of sandals. After she was settled in the swing, Olivia managed to get herself ready and eat a bowl of cereal. She grabbed her badge, clipping it to her belt, and placing her gun in the holster. Then, she started packing up the diaper bag with extra diapers, clothes, toys, and bottles. It was time to go to work. Olivia left the box of cereal out for the older kids when they woke up.

"Here we go, Miss Kaitlyn," Olivia bent over and lifted the baby out of her swing. She grabbed the bags with her free hand and headed out the door towards the car. These days, Olivia was getting used to multi-tasking.

**SVU Squad Room – 8:30am**

Olivia walked out of the elevator carrying Kaitlyn in her car seat and walked in the swinging doors. She set the bags and the carrier on her desk, pulling the handle down and lifting the baby out. She walked over to the coffee pot for a cup of decaffeinated coffee with the baby settled on her hip.

"Good morning, Olivia," called out Faith. She beamed when she saw Kaitlyn, "Hey there sweetie."

"Hey Faith," replied Olivia.

The two women chatted as they sipped their coffee and marveled over Kaitlyn. Olivia had mentioned that she planned to bring her here so everyone could see how big she had gotten. Meanwhile, Cragen, Munch, and Fin walked in and saw the two women. Munch, being the type who loved children, made a few funny faces at the baby, who just stared at him as if he was crazy.

Olivia saw Munch entertaining her daughter and grinned, "Are we going to be shy?" she asked Kaitlyn, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"There's too many of us for her to see," said Faith.

Olivia nodded, "Probably so, because trust me, she is not usually like this. At home, she is usually very loud."

In the meantime, they all talked at Olivia's desk and entertained the baby. She was beginning to warm up to everyone, especially Munch and Fin, who were both making her smile and giggle, when Rosa walked into the squad room.

"Hi Rosa," greeted Olivia. She turned to the group, "Guys, this is Sandoval's mother, Rosa. This is John Munch, Fin Tutuola, Capt. Don Cragen, and Faith McDowell." They all smiled and nodded at her.

"It's nice to meet you all," said Rosa.

Olivia turned to Rosa, "I have everything packed in here for you that you'll need," She gestured at the diaper bag. "There are extra clothes, diapers, baby food, bottles, pacifier, her favorite toys, and blanket. The pediatrician's number is also in there just in case…"

Rosa patted her arm and reassured the new mother. "Don't worry, honey. She will do just fine. My daughter and I will take good care of this sweet angel."

Olivia sighed and appreciated Rosa's reassurance. She put Kaitlyn in the carrier and strapped her in. She smoothed her tiny strands of hair and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you later, baby girl. You be good to Rosa and Elena." She handed Rosa the car seat. "Thank you again."

The rest of the group said good-bye to Ms. Sandoval as Olivia watched them leave. She knew that Rosa would be a good nanny to her baby, but this was the first time she had let her go with someone else besides anyone in the family. After they left, Olivia breathed a sigh of relief and walked back to her desk and got back to business on paperwork.

"Do you have the file on the Martinez case?" she asked Faith, who was sitting across from her.

Faith nodded, "I have it here." She handed Olivia the file folder.

The two women continued to make small talk as they worked on completing paperwork. Munch and Fin was making their way to court and Cragen went back to his office. It was back to business as usual.

TBC


	9. Doing the Right Thing

**Thanks to Kate for beta-aing!**

**Chapter 9: Doing the Right Thing **

**Flushing, Queens – 1 Week Later – 1:30pm**

Elliot and Mike got out of the car and looked out on the sidewalk. It was Labor Day and unfortunately, the two detectives were on duty to work the holiday.

"Things get crazy around here," stated Sandoval, referring to the sidewalk parade that was going on near them.

"My dad always brought my brothers, sisters, and me up here when I was growing up," said Elliot. "Then, my ex-wife and I took the kids when they were little." They reached a hot dog vendor where both men ordered a large frank.

"My mom said that we lived too far to go," said Mike, spooning some relish onto his hot dog. Since I've been out on my own for about eight years now, I take the opportunity to go."

Today, the detectives were out to look for a suspect who had been accused of abusing his girlfriend's two children. Captain Taylor had received a tip that the perp would be in the Flushing area, but after Elliot and Mike had looked around for an hour and a half, they didn't see any sign of him.

**Queens SVU – 5:00pm**

"Stabler! Sandoval! My office!" barked Taylor from the doorway.

"He isn't going to be happy about this," muttered Sandoval.

Elliot and Mike walked into Taylor's office and sat down, knowing that their captain had something on his mind.

"Did you find the guy today?" asked Taylor, leaning back in his chair.

"No sir," answered Sandoval. "We waited around for over an hour, but didn't have any luck finding him. We got a few street cops to look around, but they couldn't find him anywhere either."

"We showed a few people Mark Cooper's picture, but no one has seen him near that area," said Elliot.

Taylor scratched his head, "OK. I had Gearheart, the rookie kid, run a check on Cooper. He has also lived in the Jamaica area where he had some minor offenses." He glanced at his watch. "You guys are on shift till 10 so take a trip there and see if you can find him there."

The two detectives stood up and walked toward the door. As they reached their desks, Elliot picked up the phone and dialed Olivia at the 1-6 to let her know that he was working late.

**16th Precinct – 5:45pm**

Olivia was shuffling some papers on her desk when the phone rang.

She picked it up, "Benson."

"Hey Liv," said Elliot on the other line.

Olivia smiled when she heard her husband's voice. "Hey! What's going on?"

"I was calling to let you know that I'm working late tonight. Capt. Taylor wants Sandoval and me to look for a possible suspect on a case we're working on."

"Okay," replied Olivia. "I'm on till 7. I guess I'll see you after work. Love you."

"Love you too."

**Jamaica, Queens – York & 55th Streets – 7:30pm**

Elliot was sitting at the wheel of the car lost in thought about Liv. He knew that they hadn't spent a lot of time together with their hectic job schedules and they were usually tired when they got home at night. Reveling in the happy thought, he remembered that he and Olivia were planning to have a weekend alone since Kathleen and the twins were going to spend the night with Maureen at her apartment on Columbia University's campus. Rosa had offered to keep Kaitlyn.

"Elliot," whispered Mike, holding out a picture of their perp. "I think this is Cooper out here."

He nodded, looking at the picture and then stared at the guy outside. "That's him."

Both men stepped out of the car, making sure that their guns were in place, and approached the man walking along the sidewalk.

"Are you Mark Cooper?" asked Mike.

Before the man said anything, he shoved past Mike and ran in the direction of the car. He didn't get very far when Elliot caught him and slammed him down on the hood. He grabbed his handcuffs out and slapped it on Cooper's wrists.

"That's police brutality, man!" exclaimed Cooper.

Elliot ignored him and shook his head, "Mark Cooper, you're under arrest for suspicion of child abuse. You have the right to remain silent—"

"I didn't do anything!" hissed Cooper.

"We'll see about that, pal," smirked Mike.

Elliot placed Cooper in the back of the sedan and got in the driver's side with Sandoval getting in on the other side. They drove back to the station house knowing that they were doing good for preventing someone else from being abused tonight.

TBC


	10. Time for Two

**Author's Note: Here is the PG-13 version of this chapter. The last part of it is NC-17 so that's why I have two versions of it. You can find that one at under the same pen name.**

**Chapter 10: Time for Two**

**Queens SVU – Friday, September 9th – 1:30pm**

Elliot and Mike walked out of the interrogation room along with Mark Cooper's girlfriend and her two young children. They had already questioned Cooper and wanted to bring in the children to ask them about the abuse at the hands of their mother's boyfriend.

"You guys did good," said Elliot, kneeling down to talk to 7-year-old Maddie and 5-year-old Brian.

"What will happen to him?" asked the children's mother, a young woman by the name of Rita.

"Our ADA booked him and charged him with two counts of assault on a minor. An arraignment for his sentencing will be in two weeks," said Mike.

"Thank you for everything that you're doing for us," Rita said.

Mike just nodded. "It's our job."

"We're going to do everything we can to make sure that he can't get to the three of you anymore," Elliot assured the woman.

After they left, Elliot and Mike went to Captain Taylor's office to let him know the update on the Cooper case.

**16th Precinct – 3:00pm**

Olivia was gathering up her things at her locker to leave for the day. Faith was off and Olivia had gotten caught up on her paperwork, so Cragen told her to go home and start her weekend early.

Munch and Fin had just come back to the station house with Casey when they saw Olivia leaving and approached her at her desk.

"You leaving for the day?" asked Fin.

Olivia nodded, "Yeah, I'm caught up on paperwork so Cap is letting me go for the day."

"See you later," Munch and Fin said in unison.

"Bye, Liv," said Casey. "Have a great weekend."

"You too," Olivia called back as she walked out the door.

**Stabler Residence – 7:00pm**

Elliot stepped in the front door. He was exhausted and wanted to relax after a long week at work.

Olivia was coming out the kitchen when she saw Elliot and her eyes lit up. She gave him a quick kiss. "Hey, honey. How was work today?"

Elliot really didn't want to tell her all the details on the latest case. If she knew, she'd worry about him. "It was fine," he answered automatically.

She knew him well enough that something was bothering him, but she decided to change the subject. "Good. Maureen called earlier and said that she, Kathleen, and the twins were having a lot of fun. Then, I talked to Rosa and she said that Kaitlyn was fine. She ate her cereal formula in her bottle and was playing peek-a-boo with Rosa and Elena."

Elliot smiled. He was glad that his kids were able to hang out for the weekend with Maureen since that left him and Olivia to themselves.

"I'm going to go take a shower," he announced. He walked upstairs to the bedroom and towards the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Olivia heard him turn the shower on as she sat in the living room. She thought about Elliot and wanted him to talk out his bad day with her, but she knew that he was stubborn. A smile came across her face as she walked towards their bedroom. _'Maybe a massage would work' _she thought.

Elliot came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He was surprised when he saw Olivia standing in front of the bed, dressed in a white camisole and gray sweatpants.

'She looks cute like that,' he thought.

Olivia looked at Elliot and then retreated to the bathroom, remembering to take her birth control. She found Elliot sitting on the bed a short time later, clad only in his boxers. She sat down next to him and asked him to talk to her about his day because she knew it was bothering him.

"Liv, I really don't want to talk about this," demanded Elliot.

"But we tell each other everything."

Elliot sighed and decided to just let it out without them arguing. He told her all about Mark Cooper and how he abused his girlfriend's two young children and the fact that he was afraid that Cooper would get off on arraignment and hurt another child.

"Oh El, I'm so sorry," said Olivia.

"It's never going to end," said Elliot, shaking his head.

"I think this will make you feel better." Olivia got up and produced a bottle of massage oil from the dresser drawer.

She climbed on the bed behind him and began massaging his shoulders with the oil.

"Does this feel better?"

"Oh yeah, it feels good." Elliot grabbed Olivia's hand and lightly kissed her soft skin.

After several moments passed, Olivia walked in front of Elliot after his massage and smoothed her hands on his bare chest. She began placing small kisses on his chest and moved up to his jaw line.

Elliot sighed as she was beginning to get the two of them worked up. He knew what she wanted and he needed this to forget about the day. He gently grabbed Olivia's wrist and interlaced his fingers with hers. He then untied the drawstring of her sweatpants without taking his eyes off her and pulled them down to her feet. Olivia stepped out of them, now revealing a pair of pink lacy bikini panties.

Before she could say anything, he pulled her down on his lap and began trailing kisses from her neck down to her collarbone with his tongue. Olivia tilted her head back to give him better access and put both hands on his shoulders so she could get some leverage.

They lay under the covers for a while and kissed each other passionately. Elliot rolled off to lie next to Olivia and held her in his arms as they both fell asleep. Tonight would be a memory to savor.

TBC


	11. A Long Night

**Chapter 11: A Long Night **

**Stabler Residence – Saturday, Sept. 10th**

Olivia woke up to a stream of sunlight shining in through the window. She rolled over to her other side where Elliot had his back turned, still asleep. She traced a finger down on his spine and drew a zig-zag line up towards his shoulders, trying to startle him.

"I'm awake," murmured Elliot. He turned to face Olivia with sleepy eyes and a rugged five o'clock shadow.

"Hey you," he said, kissing her softly.

She smiled at him. "Hey to you too."

"What time is it?" asked Elliot, squinting at the clock on the nightstand.

"It's 10:30," responded Olivia. She propped her head back on the pillow next to Elliot. "I haven't slept this late in forever, it feels nice." It had been a long time, or at least ever since the baby was born. She was always used to being woken up by her wailing or babbling into the monitor. She sighed and closed her eyes.

Elliot watched as she closed her eyes. The fun wasn't over yet. He ducked under the covers and traced his fingers on the curves of her body. Olivia opened up her eyes at the feel of his touch and laughed at Elliot, but she gasped when she felt his lips graze over her breast.

When his head popped out of the sheets, she giggled as she put both hands on his cheeks and kissed him.

"Last night was amazing. Want to do it again?" she teased.

"Baby, in a million years, I would do it," he sassed back. "Let's go take a shower and I'll make you breakfast."

Olivia raised her eyebrows, "Breakfast? I'm impressed. In the meantime, the shower is on 'cause I would pay anything to see your sexy little ass."

"You'll get to see it for free," grinned Elliot. He went in the bathroom and turned on the shower. "Are you coming Liv?"

Olivia jumped out of the bed and joined Elliot in the shower. She didn't have to be asked twice.

Within an hour, they were both dressed and Elliot had prepared some pancakes. While they were cooking, Olivia squeezed his shoulder and went towards the phone to call Rosa to check in on Kaitlyn. After she had talked to Rosa, Maureen called to let her know that she would be bringing Kathleen and the twins back home in a couple hours and had offered to go by Rosa's house to pick up Kaitlyn on her way.

Olivia hung up the phone and went to join Elliot at the table. He was already inhaling his pancakes when she sat down and poured herself a cup of orange juice.

"Well, I can see that someone must be starving," grinned Olivia.

"First, I was starving for love. Now I need food," said Elliot in between bites of his breakfast.

Olivia made a face at him and helped herself to the pancakes. When she didn't say anything, Elliot stopped eating his pancakes and looked up at her.

"What?" she asked.

Elliot looked at her lovingly. "Nothing. I was just thinking about how beautiful you are."

Olivia's face began to turn red. She was trying to get used to receiving compliments all the time from Elliot, but she still always blushed every time he gave her any kind of compliment.

"Did Maureen say when she was bringing back the kids?"

"Around 1:30. She's also going by Rosa's and picking up Kaitlyn on her way back here."

"I guess we have a little more time to ourselves before they come back," replied Elliot, hinting to her what was about to come next.

Olivia nodded, knowing what Elliot was implying.

"Why did we even bother get dressed? We should have just had breakfast in bed."

"Next time I'll take you up on that offer," stated Elliot, eating his last bite of pancake.

Later that afternoon, the kids arrived excited and talking about their weekend. They hugged Elliot and Olivia and told them about having an awesome time with Maureen last night. They talked about going for pizza and then to the movies.

Kathleen was holding the baby and pointed towards Olivia. "There's Mommy. You want to go see her?" She handed Olivia the baby, who gave her perfect toothless grin as she was being passed over to her mother.

"Hi baby. Mommy missed you." She pressed a kiss on her forehead and turned to Maureen. "Did Rosa say how she did last night?"

"She was good other than a little fussy, but she thinks Kaitlyn might be cutting teeth," Maureen said.

"We met your partner, Sandoval," Dickie said to Elliot.

"Oh yeah," said Elizabeth. "He is so cute, Daddy."

"He's more than cute," chimed in Kathleen. "Mike is a hottie."'

"I agree with Kathleen," said Maureen.

Elliot laughed, "It's good to know that you girls think that my partner is, in your words, a "hottie." I'll tell him that on Monday."

"Dad!" exclaimed the girls.

**Stabler Residence – Wednesday, Oct. 5th --- 3 Weeks Later – 3:15am**

Olivia woke up to a loud cry on the baby monitor. Elliot had been up the night before with the baby so tonight it was Olivia's turn to tend to her daughter. She got up and padded across the hall to the nursery.

"Hey, hey, what is it," she said softly to the crying baby, who had her fingers in her mouth. Kaitlyn had been teething for a couple weeks now and on top of all that, she was battling allergies and had been up every night.

Olivia picked her up out of the crib, trying to soothe her, and crooned in her ear, "Shh, it's okay." She walked and bounced Kaitlyn around in her arms, but nothing she did helped the baby.

She sat in the rocking chair and rubbed Kaitlyn's back gently. She grabbed a tissue and wiped the baby's runny nose, which was stuffy because of her allergies. Then, she found the bottle of Benadryl, opening it with one hand, and gave it to her through a medicine dropper, but Kaitlyn spit it out and began to cry louder and started screaming.

"OK, we won't take it now. Shh," Olivia said to the baby as she tried rocking her in the chair to console her.

Meanwhile, Elliot came in after hearing his daughter's crying to check in on Olivia. He came up behind the chair and rubbed Olivia's back.

"Is she alright?"

Olivia shook her head and stood up from the chair, "She wouldn't take the Benadryl. I can take care of this, El. You can go back to bed. I think her gums are bothering her so I'm going to give her some Orajel to see if that will help and then I'll give the Benadryl another try."

"OK," Elliot answered as he reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind Olivia's ear and patted the baby lightly on the head. He left the room and went back to bed.

Olivia turned her attention back on Kaitlyn, "I know, baby, it hurts. Yeah, I know. Mommy will make it feel better."

About that time, the baby settled down a little so Olivia decided to give the Benadryl another try. She put the medicine dropper back in the bottle and put it up to her lips. This time, it was successful as Kaitlyn took the medicine that she needed.

She then walked into the bathroom next to the nursery in the hallway. She grabbed the Orajel with one hand while holding Kaitlyn in the other. They went back into the room where Olivia sat down and rubbed a small strip of the gel on the baby's gums.

"Here we go, baby. Good girl. That will make you better."

Olivia sighed as she held her close, propping the baby's head against her arm. She began to hum a lullaby as she rocked her gently. Kaitlyn lay awake in her mother's arms for a little while until the Benadryl made her sleepy. She made a few noises as her eyes began getting heavy and she fell asleep.

TBC


	12. Little Scare

**Chapter 12: Little Scare**

**SVU Squad Room (16th Precinct) – Thursday, October 6th – 11:30am**

"Benson. McDowell. My office!" announced Cragen from the doorway of his office.

Olivia and Faith looked at each other and walked toward Cragen's office. When they went in there, both women tried to stifle a yawn, but Cragen caught it.

"Are you two going to be alright working together today?" he asked.

Faith raised her eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Both of you are sleep-deprived and I do not want to risk one of you ladies falling asleep behind the wheel during your field assignments."

"We'll both be fine, Cap," interjected Olivia.

Don decided to give them the news before they started to complain. With Olivia and Faith both having little ones, they were sleep deprived by being up with them at night, much less having a job that required long hours while trying to juggle motherhood at the same time.

"Liv, I'm putting you with Fin. Faith, you're with Munch," he answered immediately. Before the two women could protest, Cragen held his hand out in front of them. "This will only be for today."

Both women nodded and went out on their assignment with Munch and Fin. They grabbed their jackets and walking out to the parking lot where the sedans were parked.

"See you out there, partner," Olivia called out to Faith as she got in the car with Fin.

"Same here," Faith called back, stepping in the passenger side with Munch.

**Manhattan – 72nd St. -- Daniel Burton's Apt. #5B –12:15pm**

Olivia and Fin searched for evidence in the apartment of their victim, Daniel Burton, a paroled rapist. They were looking for any kind of clue that would give them a motive or who may have killed him. Cragen had given Faith and Munch the job of interviewing his acquaintances and finding out whether there was anyone that had a grudge against him that may have wanted him dead.

Olivia went in the bedroom and looked in dresser drawers and the nightstand. She was about to leave when something sticking out from underneath the bed caught her eye. She crouched down and pulled out a pen from her pocket and picked up the gun with the pen.

She walked out of the bedroom waving the gun and called out, "Fin, I've got the murder weapon!"

Fin looked up from searching through some papers and went over to look at the gun with his glove-covered hand. He pulled out a bag and placed the gun in there.

He held out the bag in front of him, "It looks like a 9mm."

"Whoever killed this guy had a good motive for using that type of weapon," said Olivia, pointing towards the bag with the last word. Her phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket.

"Benson," she said into the phone. "What? Is she OK?" She looked at her watch and then at Fin, who was puzzled at what was going on. "Alright, I'll go back to the precinct and let my boss know. I'll be there to pick her up in about 30 minutes. Thank you, Rosa."

"Is everything okay?" Fin asked Olivia after she hung up the phone.

Olivia shook her head and gave Fin a worried look, "That was Rosa. She said that Kaitlyn is throwing up and needs me to come get her. I'm going to go back to the station and let Cragen know that I'm taking the rest of the afternoon off so I can take Kaitlyn to the doctor."

"Go ahead and go on back. I'll call Munch and catch a ride back to the house with him and Faith."

"Thanks Fin."

**SVU Squad Room 16th Precinct – 1:00pm**

Cragen walked outside with Olivia as she went out to her car. She had told him that Kaitlyn was sick and would be taking the rest of the afternoon off.

"I already called Elliot and he knows I'm leaving," said Olivia.

"Take all of the time that you need, Liv," said Cragen. "Hope the baby feels better soon."

"Thanks Cap. Me too." Olivia said good-bye to Cragen and drove off from the station house.

**Stabler Residence – 2:30pm**

Kaitlyn was crawling on the floor in the living room as she reached for her toys. Olivia sat on the couch and watched her daughter as she played contentedly. She was relieved when she took Kaitlyn to the pediatrician that she wasn't running a fever and that her sick spell was a sign of her teething. Now there was nothing that bothered the baby as she seemed to be a happy, smiling little girl.

Kaitlyn crawled over towards Olivia's feet and played with her light purple toenails, but not before Olivia grabbed her up and pretended to gobble her up, making Kaitlyn giggle very loud.

"I love you," said Olivia, grinning widely at Kaitlyn.

"Mama, mama, mama," babbled Kaitlyn. Olivia's heart began to melt as she heard her daughter say that special word. Mama. It meant so much to her to hear that. Even though she was almost eight months old, she was starting to say Mama and Dada. 'She could be a genius child,' thought Olivia.

"That's right, baby. I'm your mama."

The baby responded by resting her head on Olivia's chest. Olivia breathed in her daughter's sweet baby scent and took in this moment with her. She got a scare with her today and wanted to be there for everything no matter how busy the job was or the way life can be. She wanted to be there for her shots, when she started preschool, and graduated from high school.

Olivia made a promise to herself that she would be the best mother and always be there for Kaitlyn when she needed her.

TBC


	13. Revelation

**Chapter 13: Revelation**

**A/N: Kaitlyn is now 3 years old. Maureen is 21 and a junior at Columbia University. Kathleen is 18 and a senior in high school. Dickie and Elizabeth are now 11.**

**Stabler Residence – Saturday, April 8th – 12:30pm**

"Mama, let's go," Kaitlyn said excitedly as she pulled her mother's arm, beckoning her to come.

"Hold on, sweetheart," Olivia told her. She, Elliot, Kaitlyn, and the twins were planning to meet Maureen and Kathleen at the park and Olivia was packing up sandwiches, chips, and drinks in a basket for a picnic.

"I wanna go see Mauween and Kathleen," she said impatiently.

"We'll be going in a second, baby." Olivia finished packing and looked at her daughter. She had dark brown hair and those chocolate brown eyes that everyone thought were so beautiful. Kaitlyn was the spitting image of her mother, but she had her father's smile.

**Bryant Park – 1:30pm**

Kaitlyn was walking in between Elliot and Olivia clutching both of their hands. Dickie and Lizzie were walking behind them on the sidewalk.

"Swing me," she called out to her parents. Elliot and Olivia counted to three, lifted up her arms and swung her feet in the air as the little girl giggled in excitement.

Finally, they saw Maureen and Kathleen under a tree in a shady spot of the park sitting on a blanket. They both stood up when the rest of the family approached them. Maureen greeted her dad, Olivia, and the twins with hugs. Out of nowhere, Kaitlyn came over behind her and wrapped her little arms around Maureen.

"Hey you," said Maureen, turning around and lifting up her baby sister in a bear hug. "What have you been doing?"

"Playin' wif Dickie and Lizzie and coloring pictures," she answered proudly. "I missed you and Kafween."

"I know you have, sweetie," said Maureen. "I did get to come and visit with you guys today and Kathleen will come home with you later."

Meanwhile, everyone ate lunch and visited with each other. Elliot asked Maureen how school was going for her this semester. She asked her father and Olivia how they were adjusting to their new partners at work and also asked the twins how they were enjoying school.

After a little while, Kathleen and the twins left to go play basketball, leaving Elliot, Olivia, Maureen and Kaitlyn behind. Maureen thought that this might be a good time to tell her dad about Kathy visiting her from Florida.

"Mom came to visit me at school the other day," she said.

"She did what?" asked Elliot, trying his hardest to stay calm.

"Mommy, I wanna go swing," Kaitlyn said.

"OK. Come on, baby girl." Olivia took her daugher's hand and they left Elliot and his eldest daughter alone so they could talk.

"What is your mom doing back in town?" questioned Elliot, still shocked at the news.

"She said that she wanted to see me, Kathleen, and the twins. She wants to have a relationship with us."

Elliot thought about it for a moment. Kathy was his ex-wife who left him for another man and went off to Florida. She was the kids' mother, after all, and she had every right to see them, but did Kathleen, Dickie, and Lizzie want to see her after almost four years?

"I'll talk to Kathleen and the twins first," he told Maureen. "Then, I'd like to talk with your mother."

"She's planning to come visit me again next month."

"Is she coming with her boyfriend, Brad?"

"No, he has to work," Maureen looked at her watch and stood up. "Well I better go get Kathleen's things out of my car and go back to school so I can study for my chemistry test." She gave her father a hug and a kiss. "I love you, Dad. I'll call you guys next week."

"Love you too, honey."

Maureen walked over to the swings where Olivia and Kaitlyn were and hugged them good-bye. She then waved over to the basketball court at Kathleen, Dickie, and Lizzie.

"Push me in the swing, Mama," pleaded Kaitlyn.

Olivia pushed her gently in the swing while Kaitlyn kicked her feet in the air. She watched Maureen going toward her car, giving them one last good-bye wave as she got in and left the park.

"Wee!" cried Kaitlyn.

After Maureen left, Elliot came over to the swing and chatted with his daughter.

"Hi Daddy!" exclaimed Kaitlyn. "Look at me."

"I see that, sweetheart."

"Push me, please."

Elliot got in front of the swing and pushed Kaitlyn gently while Olivia pushed from behind her. As they were swinging her, Elliot looked at Olivia with a worried expression on his face and Olivia could sense that something was wrong.

"Elliot, are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he said.

In fact, he was not fine. Kathy wanted to see the kids, a thought that worried Elliot greatly. Life was moving along so smoothly, something he had never thought could happen when Kathy had uprooted so suddenly from New York. It was a turn of events that was puzzling to him."

TBC


	14. Worried

**Chapter 14: Worried**

**Stabler Residence – Monday, April 24 – 8:30pm**

Olivia and Elliot were sitting on the bed in Kaitlyn's room with their daughter in between them. Elliot was reading Goodnight Moon after Kaitlyn pleaded with her daddy to read it since it was her favorite book. As he read the last line, Kaitlyn began to rub her eyes and yawned.

"I think a little princess is getting tired," said Olivia, running her hands through her daughter's hair.

"Not me," interjected Kaitlyn.

Olivia and Elliot slid out of the bed and stood up to where they were in front of it. Elliot placed the book back onto the shelf along with the many other books that Kaitlyn loved.

"Here's Mr. Bear," Olivia handed her daughter her favorite bear and gently tucked in the covers. "Are you snug as a bug in a rug?"

"Yes!" answered Kaitlyn.

"Gimme a kiss," said Olivia, puckering up her lips

Kaitlyn planted a kiss on them and smiled at her mother.

"Night baby."

"Night Mama." Kaitlyn turned to her father, "Kiss Daddy?" She mimicked her mother's lip pucker.

"Good night, Katie bug," said Elliot, reaching over to plant a soft kiss on his daughter's puckered lips.

"Night Mommy and Daddy," Kaitlyn settled in the covers with Mr. Bear and began to fall asleep.

"I love you," said Olivia.

"Love you."

Olivia closed the door and went downstairs to find Elliot sitting on the couch. He looked lost in thought and was staring at all of the kids' pictures that were hanging on the wall.

"Hey, you okay?" Olivia walked towards the couch and touched his arm.

Elliot nodded, "Kathy called me at work the other day."

Olivia raised her eyebrows, "What did she say?"

"She wants to come here to see the kids while she's down here in a few more weeks. Kathleen isn't too sure about seeing her. The twins aren't sure about seeing her either, but then they change their minds and say that they do want to see their mother."

Olivia shrugged and ran her hand through her hair, "After all, she is their mother, but the kids are old enough to decide whether they want to see her or not. It's their choice."

"I told her to meet the kids somewhere else besides here," said Elliot. "I suggested at the park."

"What did she say about that?"

Elliot shrugged and looked at Olivia, "She seemed fine about it. I can't let her come here since she will cause too many problems and I don't want to fight with her in front of the kids. I also don't want to put you or Kaitlyn in between these problems. I just don't what to do, Olivia. They're my kids and I can't let them get hurt by Kathy again."

Olivia scooted up to the couch a little closer to reassure him, "El, you know what Kathy did to you and the kids. She wanted out so she cheated on you and ran off with someone else and left the kids behind. I don't understand why she wants to see them after three and a half years as much as you do, but maybe the kids should see her."

"I can't let them get hurt, Liv," he repeated. "I'll make damn sure that it won't happen again."

"I don't want them to either," said Olivia.

They both sat there for a while trying to figure out what to do in the coming weeks on planning for Kathy's return to New York. Whatever it would be, neither of them knew what the outcome would bring.

**Queens SVU – Wednesday, May 3 – 1:45pm**

"Do you have the file folder on the Powers case?" Sandoval asked Elliot from across his desk.

Elliot paused and looked through the stack of files on his desk. He pulled out a manila file folder and handed it to Mike.

"Thanks man," said Mike. As he went back to his paperwork, he looked at Elliot and could tell that something was bothering him. Kathy had been calling Elliot at the precinct twice this week so he figured it was that, but he decided not to ask Elliot and thought that when Elliot wanted to talk about it, he would.

"Stabler!" exclaimed Capt. Taylor. "My office."

Elliot turned around and saw his boss standing at the doorway of his office. He nodded and stood up from his desk and wondered what was going on as he walked into the office.

"Close the door and have a seat," said Taylor, quietly, when Elliot stepped in and did as he was told.

"I think you may already know what is going on," began Taylor. "This has been the second time this has happened in the last week with your ex-wife calling you at work."

"I'm sorry about this, Captain, but she's been a pain lately," replied Elliot. "There are a lot of personal issues between us right now. I'll talk to her about not calling me up here anymore."

"Well said. You're a good cop, Stabler, one of the best on the squad. I want to let you know that if you need to talk, my door is open," said Taylor, placing a reassuring hand on Elliot's shoulder.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Elliot walked out of the office and went back to the desk to finish up on the paperwork.

TBC


	15. Missing Person

**Chapter 15: Missing Person**

**SVU Squad Room – Thurs. May 25th – 2:30pm**

It had been a long week for the detectives. They were in the middle of an investigation of a couple who were abusing their three children. Olivia and Faith had talked to the oldest child, a 10-year-old girl, while Munch and Fin talked to the middle child, a 6-year-old boy. Both of the stories they told them about the abuse they suffered were heart wrenching and unfortunately, the youngest child, 4-year-old Savannah, had not been found yet and was reported as missing.

"Are you looking for my sister?" asked Connor, the 6-year-old.

"We're doing everything we can, buddy," Munch told him. "We hope to find her soon."

The little boy nodded and looked up at Munch with sad blue eyes,.

"She gets scared at night."

"Hey, it will be OK," said Munch, pulling Connor closer to him. Since this case started, John had formed a bond with Connor and had befriended him despite of what was going on in the case.

After Tasha, the oldest girl, and Connor left with their foster family to go on a break, Fin walked over towards Munch.

"You alright?" he asked his partner.

Munch pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "I'll be fine when we find Savannah and the parents. Those monsters need to be locked up and never be able to see their kids again."

Meanwhile, Olivia sat at her desk looking at some leads on the database system for Mike and Carrie Evans, the parents of the children. She paused for a moment while the page loaded and looked at the framed picture of Kaitlyn that she kept in front of her computer. On rough days like this, seeing her innocent smile in that picturesnapshot made her want to smile.

"Hey guys, check this out," she called out to the group.

Munch, Fin, and Faith walked over towards Olivia's desk and stood behind her chair to see what she had found.

"Did you find something on our suspects?" asked Faith.

"Better than that," answered Olivia. She pointed towards the screen and read the words.

,"Michael Evans. He's had charges of armed robbery in Jersey, aggravated assault with intent to cause bodily injury, spousal abuse, and kidnapping.

"Did he serve time for any of the charges?" asked Munch.

Olivia shook her head, "Nope. He was acquitted on all of them." She dropped her pen on the desk in disgust.

Cragen walked out of his office with a piece of paper in his hand. The four detectives all looked at him and wondered what would be next on the case.

"Did you guys find anything in the database system on the Evans'?" he asked them.

"We found a lot on Mike Evans," "Olivia stated, naming off his charges.

"What about the wife?" asked Cragen.

"I checked on Carrie and nothing was found on her," replied Fin.

"She will be faced with kidnapping charges when we find that little girl," said Faith.

Cragen nodded, "I've got a tip from an anonymous person saying that Mike Evans was seen at the bus terminal."

"What about Carrie and Savannah?" asked Munch.

"No one has not seen them yet."

He pointed at the four detectives. "I want all of you to go down to the terminal and bring him in. When you get down there, call for backup since he is armed and dangerous."

The detectives all obeyed his orders and grabbed their jackets and keys and made their way to the terminal.

TBC


End file.
